The one thing the Edmonton Oil Kings must have left off their Christmas list this year was more power.

With just one goal to show for their last 10 power plays, and two in their last 21 since coming off the Christmas break, they need to find ways to generate more power on man-advantage situations, like they had back in October and November.

“The power play has been good for the most part all year, and it goes through its ups and downs as the season goes,” said head coach Brad Lauer, whose squad went 0-for-6 on the power play in a loss to the visiting Victoria Royals on Friday that was separated by one goal. “But when you get opportunities like we did (Friday), our power play’s got to find us ways to win us hockey games.

“It’s part of our toughness, our power play. The last few games, we haven’t been good enough.”

Of course, it hasn’t helped they’ve been without the services of Quinn Benjafield, Jake Neighbours and Matthew Robertson, while Brett Kemp returned Friday after missing the previous two games.

“You’ve just got to work through it,” said Lauer. “You can’t get outworked by the penalty kill and the biggest thing when it isn’t going right, you’ve got to simplify.

This Week's Flyers

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